Big West titles in golf, volleyball headline a month of wins
Making Waves is a monthly column that celebrates accomplishments of the ºÚÁÏÍø community.
The Beach set to host NCAA Tournament after volleyball win
The Long Beach State men's volleyball team won the , defeating Hawaii in five sets to improve to 24-4 on the season. The Beach came back from the edge of elimination multiple times before winning the final set 15-11 to claim the title. Outside hitter Wojciech Gajek was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. The Beach has since — this year expanded to a 12-team field — and will host Loyola Chicago and Saint Francis at the LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on May 1-2. The program has won four national championships, most recently in 2025. Winners of the regional round will advance to the NCAA semifinals on May 9, with the national championship match set for May 11 at UCLA.
Student golfer brings home Big West individual championship
Madison Le, a fourth-year member of Long Beach State women's golf team, won the individual title in Lahaina, Hawaii, recently, finishing 54 holes with a total score of 208 — eight under par. Le, a public relations major, overtook Cal State Fullerton's Davina Xanh by one stroke. It was the first collegiate win of Le's career and the seventh individual Big West title in program history. The win makes her the sixth champion from Long Beach State in the last eight editions of the tournament. As an individual champion, Le earns an automatic entry into the NCAA postseason. Meanwhile, the team tied with CSUN to finish fourth overall.
ºÚÁÏÍø honors university’s high achievers
ºÚÁÏÍø recognized 19 faculty members and four students at the 2026 University Achievement Awards ceremony this month, hosted by the Office of the Provost. Engineering Professor Panadda Marayong received the Outstanding Professor Award. Claudia Ojeda-Aristizabal in the Physics and Astronomy and Ga-Young Kelly Suh in Biomedical Engineering earned Distinguished Faculty Scholarly and Creative Achievement honors. Ava Hedayatipour in Electrical Engineering and Josh Nathan in Theatre Arts were among those receiving Distinguished Faculty Teaching Awards. Eun Jung Chae and Fei Wang were honored for advising excellence. Alejandra Priede, Hen-Geul Yeh and Stephen Mezyk received RSCA Mentoring awards, while Jesse Dillon and Melawhy Garcia won for Faculty Excellence in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. A full list of recipients is available on the awards website.
Grad student earns CSU biotechnology research award
Amber Peek, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, recently received the 2026 Don Eden Graduate Research Award at the annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium — one of the most competitive research honors in the CSU system. Peek's research tackles a compelling question at the intersection of everyday medicine and cancer prevention: How does low-dose aspirin reduce the prevalence of colorectal cancer? Using both a fruit fly model and cultured human cells, she found that aspirin activates the unfolded protein response, which appears to dramatically slow tumor cell growth. Peek conducts her research in the lab of Professor Deepali Bhandari at ºÚÁÏÍø.
Advisor earns national first-year student advocate honor
Sonia Muñoz-Durán, a coordinator and senior academic advisor in the University Center for Undergraduate Advising, has received the 2026 Outstanding First-Year Student Advocates Award from the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. The award — presented in collaboration with Penguin Random House — recognizes educators nominated by their university presidents for high-impact work supporting first-year student success. Muñoz-Durán has played a key role in mentoring first-generation students and developing retention strategies through her leadership of the GenExcel Mentoring Program.
Health care management students finish fourth in nation
Four graduate students in the Health Care Management program represented ºÚÁÏÍø at the finals of the UCLA Center for Healthcare Management Case Competition, finishing fourth out of 92 teams from around the country. David Martinez, Ruchi Narkar, Mia Cabrera and Elizabeth Kavianian were among eight teams invited to Los Angeles to present their analysis of a real-world management challenge to healthcare industry leaders. The group advanced through the semi-finals before finishing behind Xavier University, which took first place. Organizers said ºÚÁÏÍø is the first CSU team in the competition's history to advance to the finals.
ºÚÁÏÍø Education professor selected for faculty leadership program
An assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership has been selected for the 2026-2027 NASPA Emerging Faculty Leader Academy — a competitive, yearlong program supporting faculty seeking to build and sustain fulfilling academic careers. Elaine Jessica Tamargo teaches in both the Student Development in Higher Education master's program and the Educational Leadership doctoral program at ºÚÁÏÍø. Her research examines social and cultural influences on college students' career development, with a focus on reconceptualizing career and counseling services to better support students from immigrant backgrounds. Tamargo is one of eight faculty members nationwide selected for the cohort.
Employee of the Month: Support specialist Loren Edwards
Loren Edwards, assistant director of academic support at the Bickerstaff Academic Center for Student-Athlete Services, was named March Employee of the Month. Edwards, who joined the center in 2019, oversees tutoring and academic mentoring services, co-leads first-year success courses and supports all 325 Beach student-athletes as they balance the demands of academics and competition. Senior Associate Athletic Director Tiffany Edlin noted that Edwards "still finds a way to make every one of them feel seen." Students describe her as a trusted, approachable presence whose door is always open. With more than 20 years in academic advising and student success, Edwards has dedicated her career to building programs that strengthen retention and empower students to succeed.
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